Williams grew up in Fort Worth. He attended Texas Christian University on a baseball scholarship and went on to play minor league baseball in the Atlanta Braves farm system. An injury ended his baseball career, and he returned to Texas to run the family car dealership.<ref name="nj">[http://nationaljournal.com/congress-legacy/texas-25th-house-district-20121101 ''National Journal'' "Texas, 25th House District: Roger Williams (R)," November 6, 2012]</ref>

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Williams grew up in Fort Worth. He attended Texas Christian University on a baseball scholarship and went on to play minor league baseball in the Atlanta Braves farm system. An injury ended his baseball career, and he returned to Texas to run the family car dealership.<ref name="nj">[http://nationaljournal.com/congress-legacy/texas-25th-house-district-20121101 ''National Journal'', "Texas, 25th House District: Roger Williams (R)," November 6, 2012]</ref>

Based on analysis of multiple outside rankings, Williams is an average Republican member of Congress, meaning he will vote with the Republican Party on the majority of bills.

Biography

Williams grew up in Fort Worth. He attended Texas Christian University on a baseball scholarship and went on to play minor league baseball in the Atlanta Braves farm system. An injury ended his baseball career, and he returned to Texas to run the family car dealership.[2]

Issues

Legislative actions

113th Congress

The second session of the 113th Congress enacted into law 114 out of the 3,036 introduced bills (3.8 percent). Comparatively, the 112th Congress had 4.2 percent of introduced bills enacted into law in the second session.[4] For more information pertaining to Williams's voting record in the 113th Congress, please see the below sections.[5]

National security

NDAA

Williams voted for HR 1960 - the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014. The bill passed the House on June 14, 2013, with a vote of 315 - 108. Both parties were somewhat divided on the vote.[6]

DHS Appropriations

Williams voted for HR 2217 - the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2014. The bill passed the House on June 6, 2013, with a vote of 245 - 182 that was largely along party lines.[7]

CISPA (2013)

Williams voted for HR 624 - the CISPA (2013). The bill passed the House on April 18, 2013, with a vote of 288 - 127. The bill would allow federal intelligence agencies to share cybersecurity intelligence and information with private entities and utilities. The bill was largely supported by Republicans, but divided the Democratic Party.[8]

Economy

Farm bill

On January 29, 2014, the U.S. House approved the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013, H.R. 2642, also known as the Farm Bill.[9] The bill passed by a vote of 251-166. The nearly 1,000-page bill reformed and continued various programs of the Department of Agriculture through 2018. The $1 trillion bill expanded crop insurance for farmers by $7 billion over the next decade and created new subsidies for rice and peanut growers that would kick in when prices drop.[10][11] However, cuts to the food stamp program cut an average of $90 per month for 1.7 million people in 15 states.[11] Williams voted with 62 other Republicanrepresentatives against the bill.

2014 Budget

On January 15, 2014, the Republican-run House approved H.R. 3547, a $1.1 trillion spending bill to fund the government through September 30, 2014.[12][13] The House voted 359-67 for the 1,582 page bill, with 64 Republicans and three Democrats voting against the bill.[13] The omnibus package included 12 annual spending bills to fund federal operations.[14] It included a 1 percent increase in the paychecks of federal workers and military personnel, a $1 billion increase in Head Start funding for early childhood education, reduced funding to the Internal Revenue Service and the Environmental Protection Agency and protected the Affordable Care Act from any drastic cuts. Williams joined with the 63 other Republicans and 3 Democrats who voted against the bill.[12][13]

Government shutdown

On September 30, 2013, the House passed a final stopgap spending bill before the shutdown went into effect. The bill included a one-year delay of the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate and would have also stripped the bill of federal subsidies for congressional members and staff. It passed through the House with a vote of 228-201.[15] At 1 a.m. on October 1, 2013, one hour after the shutdown officially began, the House voted to move forward with going to a conference. In short order, Sen. Harry Reid rejected the call to conference.[16] Williams voted in favor of the stopgap spending bill that would have delayed the individual mandate.[17]

The shutdown finally ended on October 16, 2013, when the House took a vote on HR 2775 after it was approved by the Senate. The bill to reopen the government lifted the $16.7 trillion debt limit and funded the government through January 15, 2014. Federal employees also received retroactive pay for the shutdown period. The only concession made by Senate Democrats was to require income verification for Obamacare subsidies.[18] The House passed the legislation shortly after the Senate, by a vote of 285-144, with all 144 votes against the legislation coming from Republican members. Williams voted against HR 2775.[19]

Federal Pay Adjustment Act

Williams voted for HR 273 - Eliminates the 2013 Statutory Pay Adjustment for Federal Employees. The bill passed the House on February 15, 2013, with a vote of 261 - 154. The bill would prevent a 0.5% pay increase for all federal workers from taking effect, saving the federal government $11 billion over 10 years.[20]

Immigration

Morton Memos Prohibition

Williams voted for House Amendment 136 - Prohibits the Enforcement of the Immigration Executive Order. The amendment was adopted by the House on June 6, 2013, with a vote of 224 - 201. The purpose of the amendment as stated on the official text is to "prohibit the use of funds to finalize, implement, administer, or enforce the Morton Memos." These memos would have granted administrative amnesty to certain illegal aliens residing in the United States.[21] The vote largely followed party lines.[22]

Healthcare

Healthcare Reform Rules

Williams voted for House Amendment 450 - Requires Congressional Approval for Any Rules Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The amendment was adopted by the House on August 2, 2013, with a vote of 227-185. The amendment requires that all changes to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act be approved by Congress before taking effect. The vote was largely along party lines.[23]

Social issues

Abortion

Williams voted for HR 1797 - Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The resolution passed the House on June 18, 2013, with a vote of 228 - 196 that largely followed party lines. The purpose of the bill is to ban abortions that would take place 20 or more weeks after fertilization.[24]

Campaign themes

2014

Excerpt: "As a business owner, I don’t just talk about balancing the budget, I do it every day. If revenues are down, expenses must be reduced. As your Congressman, I will support a Balanced Budget Amendment...."

Entitlement Reform is Critical

Excerpt: "In my business, I deal with pension issues for my employees. And I know that the federal government cannot sustain its current path of entitlement spending..."

Abolishing Earmarks

Excerpt: "I oppose earmarks not just because of all the wasteful spending; I oppose them because they represent a corruption of the political process."

Ending the Tax Code as We Know It

Excerpt: "Not only do I believe that we need to lower taxes, I believe we need to utterly reform the tax code. As a business owner, I know how the current tax code costs money, time, and jobs..."

American Energy Independence is a Critical National Priority

Excerpt: "We are all seeing the growing instability of the Middle East. We cannot continue to send billions of dollars overseas to unstable foreign nations who are threatened by Islamic radicals..."

Elections

2014

Williams ran for re-election to the U.S. House in 2014. He won the Republican nomination in the primary election on March 4, 2014, with no opposition. He will face Marco Montoya (D) in the general election on November 4, 2014.

Campaign donors

Comprehensive donor information for Williams is available dating back to 2012. Based on available campaign finance records, Williams raised a total of $3,102,683 during that time period. This information was last updated on March 25, 2013.[30]

2012

Breakdown of the source of Williams' campaign funds before the 2012 election.

Williams won election to the U.S. House in 2012. During that election cycle, Williams' campaign committee raised a total of $3,102,683 and spent $3,035,074.[40] This is more than the average $1.5 million spent by House winners in 2012.[41]

Lifetime voting record

According to the website GovTrack, Williams missed 0 of 89 roll call votes from January 2013 to March 2013. This amounts to 0.0%, which is better than the median of 2.2% among current congressional representatives as of March 2013.[43]

Net worth

2011

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Williams' net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $-4,170,973 to $30,760,995. That averages to $13,295,011, which is higher than the average net worth of Republican House members in 2011 of $7,859,232.[44]

Voting with party

2013

The website OpenCongress tracks how often members of Congress vote with the majority of the chamber caucus. According to the website, Williams has voted with the Republican Party 97.4% of the time. This ranked 110th among the 233 House Republicans as of June 2013.[45]